Balika Vadhu

Balika Vadhu (English: The Child Bride) is an Indian soap opera that was aired on Colors TV between 21 July 2008 and 31 July 2016 with 2,245 episodes. The story is set in rural Rajasthan and revolves around the life of a child bride from childhood to womanhood.
Background
The show consists of two parts. The first part, Balika Vadhu - Kacchi Umar Ke Pakke Rishte (English: Child Bride - Strong Relationships of Tender Age) ran for 2,164 episodes, and focused on Anandi and Jagdish, who were married during childhood. The second part, Balika Vadhu - Lamhe Pyaar Ke (English: Child Bride - Moments of Love) which ran for 84 episodes, reflects the life of Anandi's daughter, Dr. Nandini, also known as Nimboli, another child bride.
Plot
Balika Vadhu follows the lives of Anandi and Jagdish, who were married as children, and the challenges they and their families face over several decades.
Cast
Main
Pratyusha Banerjee/Toral Rasputra as teen–adult Anandi: Khajaan and Bhagwati's daughter; Jagdish's ex-wife; Shiv's widow; Nandini and Shivam's mother; Amol's adoptive mother (2010–2013)/(2013–2016) (dead)
Avika Gor as child Anandi (2008–2010)
Shashank Vyas/Shakti Anand as teen–adult Jagdish Singh: Bhairon and Sumitra's son; Sugna's younger brother; Anandi and Gauri's ex-husband; Nandu and Bhairavi's adopted cousin; Ganga's husband; Mannu's step-father; Abhimanyu's father (2010–2015) / (2015–2016)
Avinash Mukherjee as child Jagdish Singh (2008–2010)
Anjum Farooki/Deblina Chatterjee as Dr. Gauri: Jagdish's ex-wife (2010–2012)/(2014)
Mahima Makwana as chlid Gauri (2010)
Sidharth Shukla as IAS Shivraj "Shiv" Shekhar: Anoop and Meenakshi's elder son; Mahi's elder brother; Saanchi's cousin; Anandi's second husband; Nandini and Shivam's father; Amol's adoptive father (2012–2015) (dead)
Sriti Jha/Sargun Mehta/Aasiya Kazi as Ganga: Ratan's ex-wife; Jagdish's third wife; Mannu and Abhimanyu's mother (2013)/(2013–2014)/(2014–2016)
Roshni Walia as child Ganga (2013)
Mahhi Vij as Nandini Shekhar: Shiv and Anandi's daughter; Shivam's twin-sister; Kundan's ex-wife; Naren and Jamuna's adopted daughter; Amol and Sudha's adopted sister; Krish's wife (2016)
Gracy Goswami as child Nandini Shekhar (2015–2016)
Dishank Arora as Shivam Shekhar: Shiv and Anandi's son; Nandini's twin-brother; Amol's adopted brother; Sudha's husband (2016)
Viren Vazirani as child Shivam Shekhar (2015–2016)
Vineet Kumar Chaudhary as Kundan Singh: Akheeraj and Harki's son; Kamli's younger brother; Nandini and Urmi's ex-husband; Krish's step-father (2016) (dead)
Sparsh Srivastav/Karan Pahwa as teenage Kundan Singh (2015–2016)
An unknown actor as child Kundan
Ruslaan Mumtaz as Krish Malhotra: Karuna's son; Kundan's step-son; Nandini's husband (2016)
Recurring
Chetanya Adib as Khajaan Singh: Bhagwati's husband; Anandi's father; Nandini and Shivam's grandfather; Amol's adoptive grandfather (2008–2015)
Bhairavi Raichura as Bhagwati: Khajaan's wife; Anandi's mother; Nandini and Shivam's grandmother; Amol's adoptive grandmother (2008–2012) (dead)
Digvijay Purohit as Govind: Rani's elder brother; Krishna's husband
Preity Sahay as Krishna: Govind's wife
Mrudula Sathe as Rani: Govind's younger sister
Surekha Sikri as Kalyani Devi Singh: Dharamveer's widow; Bhairon's mother; Vasant's adoptive mother; Sugna and Jagdish's grandmother; Nandu and Bhairavi's adoptive grandmother; Varun, Shagun and Abhimanyu's great-grandmother; Mannu's step-great-grandmother (2008–2016) (dead)
Heeba Shah as young Kalyani Devi Singh (shown in a flashback scene)
Anup Soni as Bhairon Singh: Dharamveer and Kalyani's son; Vasant's adopted brother; Sumitra's husband; Sugna and Jagdish's father; Varun, Shagun and Abhimanyu's grandfather; Mannu's step-grandfather (2008–2014)
Smita Bansal as Sumitra: Bhairon's wife; Sugna and Jagdish's mother; Varun, Shagun and Abhimanyu's grandmother; Mannu's step-grandmother (2008–2014)
Vibha Anand/Janvi Chheda as Sugna Singh: Bhairon and Sumitra's daughter; Jagdish's elder sister; Nandu and Bhairavi's adopted cousin; Pratap's ex-wife; Shyam's wife; Varun and Shagun's mother (2008–2010)/(2011–2013)
Satyajit Sharma as Vasant Singh: Mahavir's son; Dharamveer and Kalyani's adopted son; Bhairon's adopted brother; Jamuna and Gehna's ex-husband; Nandu and Bhairavi's father (2008–2014)
Geeta Tyagi as Jamuna: Vasant's ex-wife (2008)
Neha Marda/Sheetal Khandal as Gehna: Shambhu and Urmila's daughter; Kanchan and Rama's elder sister; Vasant's ex-wife; Niranjan's wife; Nandu and Bhairavi's mother (2008–2011)/(2011–2015)
Rishi Sonecha/Keval Katrodia/Mayur Mondal/Sanjay Basak as Nandkishore "Nandu" Singh: Vasant and Gehna's son; Bhairavi's elder brother; Sugna and Jagdish's adopted cousin (2012–2015)
Rajendra Gupta as Mahavir Singh: Vasant's father; Nandu and Bhairavi's grandfather (2009–2012)
Vinay Yadav as Maakhan: maid in Kalyani's house
Farida Jalal as Vasundhara Devi: Kalyani's elder sister (2009, 2012)
Rahul Lohani as Niranjan: Gehna's music teacher; Gehna's second husband; Nandu and Bhairavi's step-father (2009–2010; 2014–2015)
Shashwat Joshi as Abhimanyu "Abhi" Singh: Jagdish and Ganga's son; Mannu's half-brother; Varun and Shagun's cousin (2015)
Mamta Chaturya as adult Phooli: Anandi's best friend since childhood (2010–2012)
Faiza Faiz as child Phooli (2008–2010)
Pankaj Jha Kashyap as Phooli's elder brother (2010)
Pushpendra Singh as Jagan: Phooli's father
An unknown actress/An unknown actress as Phooli's mother
Shivshakti Sachdev as Champa: Anandi's childhood friend; Gulli's mother (2008) (dead)
Nidhi Jha/Sonam Lamba as adult Gulli: Lalan and Champa's daughter; Hardik's wife (2011–2013)/(2014)
Netra Kapoor/Digangana Suryavanshi as child Gulli
Kishan Bhan as Shambhu: Gehna, Kanchan and Rama's father; Nandu and Bhairavi's grandfather
Chitra Jetly/An unknown actress/An unknown actress as Urmila: Gehna, Kanchan and Rama's mother; Nandu and Bhairavi's grandmother
Farnaz Shetty as Kanchan (2013)
Jehangir Vakil as Pratap: Hukum and Meena's son; Sugna's ex-husband; Varun's father (2008–2009) (dead)
An unknown actor/Deepak Dutta as Hukum Singh: Pratap's father; Varun's grandfather
An unknown actress as Meena: Hukum's wife; Pratap's mother; Varun's grandmother
Shivansh Kotia/Rudra Soni as Varun Singh: Pratap and Sugna's son; Shyam's step-son; Shagun's half-brother; Abhimanyu's cousin; Mannu's step-cousin (2010)/(2011–2013)
Amar Sharma as Madan Singh: Radha's husband; Shyam's father; Varun's step-grandfather; Shagun's grandfather (2008–2014)
Asmita Sharma/An unknown actress as Radha: Madan's wife; Shyam's mother; Varun's step-grandmother; Shagun's grandmother (2008–2010)
Vikrant Massey/Sachin Shroff as Shyam Singh: Madan and Radha's son; Sugna's husband; Varun's step-father; Shagun's father (2009–2010)/(2011–2013)
Abhijit Lahiri as Ramcharan Singh: Madan's elder brother (2009–2010)
An unknown actress as Ramcharan's wife (2009–2010)
Neha Gosain as Asha (2011–2013)
An unknown actor/An unknown actor as Gauri's father
Smita Dongre as Kamla: Gauri's mother
Tarakesh Chauhan as Ram Singh: Gauri's uncle
Nivedita Bhattacharya as Shivani Rajadhyaksha (2011, 2014)
Arpit Joshi/Suneet Surana/Semal Bhatt as Lal Singh: Sunehri's husband; Jagdish's friend (2010–2012)
An unknown actress/Raquel Rebello as Sunehri: Lal Singh's wife
Urmila Sharma as Kanchan: Bharat's mother
Sumit Malhan as Bharat: Phooli's second husband
Svetlana Mishra as Chaturi: Bharat's first wife
Chandresh Singh as Ratan Singh: Ganga's ex-husband; Mannu's father (2013–2015)
Harsh Mehta as Mahendra "Mannu" Singh: Ratan and Ganga's son; Jagdish's step-son; Abhimanyu's half-brother; Varun and Shagun's step-cousin; Pooja's husband (2015–2016)
Dhairya Ashani as child Mahendra "Mannu" Singh (2014–2015)
An unknown actor as Bhanwar: Ratan's father; Mannu's grandfather
An unknown actress as Vimla: Ratan's mother; Mannu's grandmother
Shubha Saxena as Padma: Ratan's third wife
Ghanshyam Srivastava as Ghanshyam: uncle who took care of Mannu when Ganga went to medical school in Mangalore
Ankit Gupta as Dr. Abhishek Singh: Asha's second husband (2012–2013)
Sudhir Pandey as Premkishore Shekhar: Anoop and Alok's father; Shiv, Saanchi and Mahi's grandfather; Nandini and Shivam's great-grandfather; Amol's adoptive great-grandfather (2012–2015)
Jaineeraj Rajpurohit as Alok Shekhar: Premkishore's younger son; Anoop's younger brother; Iravati's husband; Saanchi's father (2012–2015)
Sonal Jha as Iravati Shekhar: Alok's wife; Saanchi's mother (2012–2015)
Roop Durgapal as Saanchi Shekhar: Alok and Iravati's daughter; Shiv and Mahi's cousin; Vivek's wife (2012–2015)
Avinash Wadhawan/Akshay Anand as Anoop Shekhar: Premkishore's elder son; Alok's elder brother; Meenakshi's husband; Shiv and Mahi's father; Nandini and Shivam's grandfather; Amol's adoptive grandfather (2013–2015)
Anita Kulkarni as Meenakshi Shekhar: Anoop's wife; Shiv and Mahi's mother; Nandini and Shivam's grandmother; Amol's adoptive grandmother (2012–2015)
Abhishek Tiwari as Mahi Shekhar: Anoop and Meenakshi's younger son; Shivraj's younger brother; Saanchi's cousin (2012–2014)
Khushmeet Gill/Shubham Jha as Raju Mehta/Amol Shekhar: Shiv and Anandi's adopted son; Nandini and Shivam's adopted brother (2014–2015)
Sushmita Mukherjee as Subhadra "Swananda": Premkishore's younger sister; Hardik's grandmother (2014–2015)
Gaurav Bajaj as Hardik: Subhadra's grandson; Gulli's husband (2014)
Bobby Parvez as Roshan Kabra: Suman's husband, Vivek, Saurabh and Rakhi's father (2014)
Shalini Arora as Suman Kabra: Roshan's wife; Vivek, Saurabh and Rakhi's mother (2014–2015)
Vimarsh Roshan as Advocate Vivek Kabra: Roshan and Suman's elder son; Saurabh and Rakhi's elder brother; Saanchi's husband (2013–2015)
An unknown actor/Sonal Handa as Saurabh Kabra: Roshan and Suman's younger son; Vivek and Rakhi's brother; Saanchi's rapist (2013–2014)
Farhina Parvez Jarimari as Rakhi Kabra: Roshan and Suman's younger daughter; Vivek and Saurabh's younger sister (2014)
Sunil Singh as Akheeraj Singh: Harki's husband; Kamli and Kundan's father (2015–2016) (dead)
Rudrakshi Gupta as Harki: Akheeraj's wife; Kamli and Kundan's mother (2015–2016)
Farah Hussain as Kamli Singh: Akheeraj and Harki's daughter; Kundan's elder sister; Pushkar's wife (2015–2016)
Rajeshwari Sachdev as Mangaladevi: Akheeraj's sister-in-law; Nandini's mother-figure (2015–2016) (dead)
Meenakshi Arya as Geeta: Akheeraj younger sister
Madhvi Chopra as Chaggani: maid at Akheeraj's house
Simran Natekar as Pooja: Sarita's daughter; Mannu's wife (2015)
Dimple Kava/Raginee Risshi as Sarita: Pooja's mother
Parichay Sharma as Pushkar: Jatashankar and Bhagirathi's mentally ill son; Kamli's husband (2015–2016)
Abhay Joshi as Jatashankar: Pushkar's father
Jhumma Mitra as Bhagirathi: Pushkar's mother
Mahmood Hashmi as Pushkar's uncle
Tisha Kapoor as Urmi: Khetaram and Saraswati's daughter; Kundan's ex-wife (2015)
Madan Tyagi as Khetaram: Urmi's father
Anjali Gupta as Saraswati: Urmi's mother
Deepali Muchrikar/Vidhi Pandya as Nidhi: Anant and Pushpa's daughter (2015)/(2015–2016)
Hiten Tejwani as Dr. Anant: Pediatric doctor; Pushpa's husband; Nidhi's father (2015–2016)
Malini Kapoor as Pushpa: Anant's wife; Nidhi's mother
Shahab Khan as Naren Shekhawat: Yamuna's husband; Sudha's father; Nandini's adoptive father (2016)
Neetu Pandey as Yamuna Shekhawat: Naren's wife; Sudha's mother; Nandini's adoptive mother (2016)
Yukti Kapoor as Sudha Shekhawat: Naren and Yamuna's daughter; Nandini's adopted sister; Premal's ex-wife; Shivam's wife (2016)
Ayush Anand as Premal: Santhalia and Pavitra's son; Sudha's ex-husband (2016)
Vinod Anand as Santhalia: Pavitra's husband; Premal's father
Hetal Yadav as Pavitra: Santhalia's wife; Premal's mother (2016)
Sonia Shah as Karuna Malhotra: Kundan's wife; Krish's mother (2016)
Nimisha Vakharia as Triveni: Karuna's elder sister
Sadiya Siddiqui as Sandhya: Anandi's school teacher (2008–2013)
Bhakti Narula as Bhanwari: matchmakers from Bilaria village
Ashok Banthia as Village Chief of Bilaria
Yogendra Kumaria as the doctor who treated Jamuna
Farida Dadi as Mithi: the traditional midwife who assisted Jamuna's delivery
Ashok Awasthi as Village Chief of Jaitsar
Jay Pathak as Madhav: Sumitra's younger brother; youngest uncle of Sugna and Jagdish
Aayush Shah as Jagdish's school friend
Aekansh Vats as Sunder: Jagdish's schoolmates who had a bad influence on Jagdish
Priya Ahuja as Suman: Shyam first met Suman when Shyam was in town and helped Suman's mother from a wheelchair accident
Rajesh Kareer as one of the criminal gangs of the child abduction syndicate in Mumba town
Sakshi Tanwar as Teepri: Bhairon's childhood friend (2010)
Manav Sohal as Teepri's husband (2010)
Navika Kotia as Teepri's daughter (2010)
Smita Oak as Kunda: the landlord who rented out his house to Jagdish and Gauri in Mumbai
Amita Udgata as Kusumkaali: Kalyani's best friend
Sanjay Batra as Heth Singh
Saurrabh Kushwaha as Sooraj: Heth Singh's son
Fahad Ali as Shravan
Rajkumar Kanojia as Bheem Singh: Shiv's personal assistant
Karmveer Choudhary as Shambhu: a contractor
Ajay Sharma as Keval Ram
Reena Aggarwal as Ashima: Shiv's friend (2012–2013)
Pavitra Sarkar as Balachandra: hospital nurse in Mangalore who harassed Ganga
Dinesh Soni as Natthu Lal: maid at Shiv's house
Maleeka R. Ghai as Nirmala: matchmakers from Jaitsar village
An unknown actress as Urmi Devi: Madhavi's mother
Mohit Abrol as Anuj
Mandar Jadhav as Mihir
Anshul Singh as Manish: Kanchan's husband
Madan Joshi as Chief Minister of Rajasthan
An unknown actor as Rajeev: Shiv's partner
Amardeep Jha as Suhasini
Pubali Sanyal as Sonali Das: orphanage foundation board
Sushma Prashant as Sarla: the nurse who had assisted Iravati's delivery
Kamalika Guha Thakurta as Pramila (2014)
Saptrishi Ghosh as public prosecutor in court
Shivraj D. Walvekar as Lawyer Mr. Bundela
Naveen Saini as Sumeet Raghuvanshi: Saanchi's defense lawyer.
Massheuddin Qureshi as Brijesh Sanghvi
Shweta Mahadik as Rasika: Narendra's widow; Shiv's secretary
Kartik Soni as Narendra: Rasika's late husband
Sanjay Bhatiya as Narendra's father
An unknown actress as Narendra's mother
An unknown actor as Anil Manchanda: Narendra's friend since childhood
Arjun Aneja as Mr. Mittal: Saanchi's boss
Akash Khurana as Shamal: a politician
Harsh Chhaya as Palash Shindia: a painter (2014)
Niveen A. Ramani as Palash's assistant
Parveen Kaur as Kalyani's teacher
Sanskrati Sharma as Kajal: Kalyani's classmate
Saniya Touqeer as Jhoomar: a student who experienced a case of child abuse
An unknown actor as Ramesh: teachers who abuse their own students
Nimai Bali as L. P. Shrivastav: Sona's husband
Geetanjali Mishra as Kusum/Sona: Ganga's cousin (2014–2015)
Gaurav Hans as Giridhar: a villager who recognized Sona
Ankur Sharma Kabir as Raghav: Ganga's kidnappers
Rumi Khan as the terrorist who died along with Shiv
Nishant Paliwal as Madhav: Kundan's best friend
Rishi Dev as Gopal: Kamli's ex-lover (2015) (dead)
An unknown actress as Bindiya: Pooja's friend
An unknown actor as Bindiya's uncle
An unknown actor as Kishore: Nimboli's teacher
Abhay Keshari as Kundan's friend in juvenile prison
Sanki Shailendra as Kundan's friend in juvenile prison
Jayant Trivedi as Deenu: Akheeraj's friend
Bhupesh Singh as Badri: Akheeraj's friend
Hiteeka Ruchchandran as Madhura: a girl who was about to be sacrificed to a cult, and Nimboli rescued her
Khushali Hirani as Kavita: the girl who was kidnapped by Akheeraj
Avinash Sachdev as Dr. Amit Goel (2016)
Prithvi Sankhala as Dr. Naresh Goel (2016)
Smriti Khanna as Dr. Vandana Mittal (2016)
An unknown actress as Shanaya: Amit's friend
Nirali M. as Krish's ex-girlfriend
Reception
Ratings
Balika Vadhu became one of the most watched Hindi GEC in its runtime and is one of the shows which helped get newly launched channel Colors TV to the first position in Hindi GEC, beating the nine years top position maintained by Star Plus.
Balika Vadhu was met with mixed responses. While some appreciated it for portraying the issues of child marriage, some criticised the show for glorifying it. The series had a very low initial rating of 0.7 TVR, but by five weeks after launch, it had entered the top five most-watched Hindi GEC and had become Colors TV's top programme.
In five weeks after launch, it entered the top five most-watched Hindi GEC. Thus, Balika Vadhu helped Colors TV's top positioning a lot. Balika Vadhu often held top position mostly on the ratings charts from 2008 to 2013.
In week 11 of 2009, it occupied third position with 5.9 TVR. On 13 June 2009, it was at fourth position with 5.3 TVR. In week 11 of 2010, it occupied top position and garnered 7.7 TVR. In week 30 of 2010, it occupied with the top position with 6.9 TVR.
On 28 May 2011, it occupied the top position with 4.91 TVR. In week 24 of 2011, it was at second position with 4.81 TVR. In first two weeks of August 2011, it garnered 6.1 and 5.2 TVRs maintaining its top position. In the first week of 2012, it occupied the second position with 4.76 TVR. In week 50 of 2012, it was at top position with 5.8 TVR. In last week of July 2013, it was at second position with 3.9 TVR.
Critics
The series was addressed in Indian Parliaments during 2009, prompting the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to stop its telecast, condemning it for portraying child marriage against the Indian constitutional law.
Sequel and spin-off
A reboot of the show, named Balika Vadhu 2, aired on the same channel from 9 August 2021 to 29 March 2022.
An animated series, Chhoti Anandi, was launched in 2016. The show focuses on the adventures of an eight year old Anandi and her friends. It was simulcasted on Colors TV and Rishtey from January to April 2016. The animation was provided by HopMotion animation studio.
References
External links
2008 Indian television series debuts
2016 Indian television series endings
Colors TV original programming
Hindi-language television shows
Television shows set in Rajasthan
Child marriage in India
2000s Indian television series
2010s Indian television series
Television episodes about child marriage